fb175091

I returned to the hotel a week later, and the policy has now changed. Diamond members have breakfast in the lounge, not in the restaurant. The lounge breakfast area is rather small and the selection is minimal. I need a decent cereal to start the day, and the cereal selection in the lounge was rather odd (pre-packaged chocolate premium muesli?), so I went to the restaurant and asked to have my breakfast there which was granted without problems.

I should say that the hotel has been treating me rather well as of late: for both stays in June, I received an upgrade to a suite. Not sure whether this is the HHD status or the fact that I have been here many times in the last 18 months.

gbearbuck

I've only been to this property once... was upgraded to a suite as HHD, for what that's worth.

This hotel is in a good location, is modern with very clean (read:new) rooms. The regular rooms looked a bit small, however the suite we were given had way more space than we needed (not complaining... just putting it out there that there is plenty of space in the suites). The rates tend to be very reasonable (for paid stays or point stays for that matter). This is not a five star hotel (there are many hotels in Amsterdam that are better, however they are also priced much higher. For the price this is a great hotel...location, clean/new rooms, HH earning potential, etc)...

kdoughboy

I had the same experience as Gold. Was told at check-in that breakfast could ONLY be taken in the lounge, which I wasn't too thrilled about because the lounge is small and clearly wouldn't have room for even a modest spread. The following morning I called the careline to make sure this is indeed the policy, and they said we could use our breakfast amenity in the restaurant. Confirmed it with the restaurant hostess a few minutes later and then enjoyed a wonderful breakfast there. I won't even consider the lounge now.

Also, the new Executive Lounge replaces the complimentary mini-bar according to a letter we received--and according to our empty minibar. Considering the lousy offerings in the lounge (only coffee, tea, and water during the day, plus a cocktail hour in the evening) I would much prefer the complimentary minibar.

kdoughboy

Just got back from a 5-night stay at this property a few days ago and wanted to share my thoughts. Overall, I thought the stay was so-so.

I stayed on points as a Gold, and requested (via email) and received an upgrade to an Executive room overlooking the city. The view was fantastic (slightly obscured by another part of the building, but was wasn't an issue for me) and I appreciate being away from the train noise. The room itself was so-so. It was large, which was nice, but was very sparse, didn't have a coffeemaker of any sort, and the climate control system didn't function properly. There was also a light out in the bathroom directly above the sink, and we had to ask twice for it to be fixed.

Breakfast in the restaurant was fantastic, although we did not appreciate being told every single morning that "your breakfast is over there" with a finger pointing towards the executive lounge whenever we gave our room number. We were still able to use our Gold breakfast amenity in the restaurant, but them pushing the lounge so hard (and in a customer-unfriendly way IMO) was obnoxious and unnecessary. We felt like we were supposed to be relagated to the lousy lounge. And speaking of the lounge, it was pretty pathetic. We didn't even bother looking at the breakfast because of our negative overall impression, which was solidified by the fact that they lock their fridge during the day so your only choices for refreshment are water, coffee, and tea. Admittedly I am not a seasoned Hilton Executive Lounge user, but I thought that was cheap and tacky considering the EL is the replacement for the complimentary mini-bar. The cocktail hour also went from 7-9pm and only offered beer and wine (which belies the name "cocktail hour"). It was insanely crowded the one time we went, further adding to our negative opinion of the EL. The final nail in the coffin was that the keyreader to access the lounge did not work one single time--we had to ask for help every time we wanted to get into the lounge. After coming from the much better lounge at the Hilton Antwerp (which, I understand, is not even that great of a lounge), this was a very poor showing. I would've taken the complimentary mini bar any day.

Other than that, the stay was just fine. The location is fantastic, housekeeping did a decent job, the bed was comfortable, and the customer service overall was satisfactory. That said, if I find myself needing to stay in a Hilton in Amsterdam again, I will opt to try the Hilton Amsterdam over another stay at the Doubletree.

pauleeepaul

A fantastic breakfast, fantastic location, fantastic view, and upgrade to an executive room merits better than so so IMO. Remember this is a DT vs a higher end HH brand. And gratis minbar is a major exception vs an expectation.

The Hilton is a better more luxurious/expensive hotel- in a less desirable location.

Lomapaseo

I appreciate the facts of a person, (The OP), having stayed in that hotel recently. Rating opinions are only subjective. The facts speak for themselves.

At least now I am forewarned before my non-refundable stay this month.

kdoughboy

Absolutely. The hotel has many positives, and I think I was fair in giving credit where credit is due. That said, there were some things that I disliked--some quite strongly--and those affected my overall opinion. You may think that it merits better than so so, and you are entitled to that opinion--just as I am entitled to mine.

fb175091

Was just back at the hotel for a night and was once more upgraded to a suite. This was approximately my 10th stay at the hotel and it was the very first time that I had a room without a city view (view across het IJ and the train tracks). I didn't mind at all (for a one night stay, it doesn't matter so much), but I suddenly noticed that all of my previous stays had amazing city views.

An update on the EL: when I showed up for breakfast in the restaurant, the reaction this time was "if you want, you could also have the breakfast in the lounge". Quite different from my last stay where I had to insist on the restaurant breakfast. I chose the restaurant because of the vastly superior choice.

PS. Friday morning, there was a fire alarm in the kitchen that blocked the elevators. I was a bit confused when I went to the elevators on the 8th floor and the elevator signs said brandweer, but no alarm had sounded.

Lomapaseo

As a gold can I just show up at the restaurant and ask for breakfast there?

guiseppe

I would say " it depends".
During my stay last weekend I had the " your breakfast is over there " discussion and was after insisting allowed to have my breakfast in the restaurant.
By the way: the new EL is a really joke : locked fridge, " happy" better " crowdy" hour from 6-8 with a few cookies, soft drinks and beer, but no free place for sitting.

Dcislander

Just checked out of the DT. Here's my take, as a HH Diamond:

Super close to the train station, the NEMO, tram lines etc. Some people may not like the location at the head of the city instead of the bowels, but it worked well for us (me + one seven year old). Stayed on one paid night in a city suite and 3 point nights in a standard room, and was allowed to stay in the suite for the duration. Thumbs up there. As stated elsewhere the exec lounge needs to be figured out and has some growing pains. When it was open, it was packed with guests filling up on the free beers and gummy bears (the evening food was almost exclusively sweets and candy) in lieu of real meals. No room to sit. We took some Orangina's and bolted. For breakfast they gladly accommodated us in the restaurant, but I did have a kid with me. The lounge was packed to the gills though.

The suite was great. Plenty of room, good view. People wandering the halls all night (this is AMS after all) but totally quiet in our room. I liked the MacMini TVs in the bedroom and living room, but there were no movie options and no video check out (more on that next).

Concierge desk is helpful when not strapped by a huge line of people leaving their bags, getting their bags or trying the skip the check in/out line. They sell tix there (Van Gough, canal tours...) where you can save a few Euro and skip the lines. Tried to make a dinner res but the restaurant was closed. Concierge was going to call and call me later in the day--never got a call from them. When I called the hotel to ask, the concierge on duty had no clue what I was talking about. Ended up making the res myself.

The lines for check-in, check-out were crazy. There was a HH position but no one pays any attention to it, so do not expect to be Diamond shuffled to the front. The desk seemed understaffed most of the time. OK if you need to wait 15 min for check-in, but stinks when you need to wait to get a new key or check out in a hurry. Note: you cannot check out on the TV system in the room (unless it escaped me).

The suite was modern and well kept. The bed was kind of lousy. The king was two twins pushed together with no mattress topper on it so there was a huge crack between the two. Mattresses are personal preference, but some pillow toppers would have been nice. The pillows are really uncomfortable too. Standard synthetic firm pillows. No feather pillows so prepare for stiff necks. A call to guest care for a softer pillow came up snake eyes.

Overall, we had a good stay and would certainly stay again. Our last stay in AMS was at the Pulitzer which had it's own set of pluses and minuses. Smaller lines at the desk and figure out the Exec lounge and it is all thumbs up.

Lomapaseo

I have a party of four seniors that need to make their way from Schiphol to the hotel with luggage. Is it doable using the train to central station and hailing a cab to the hotel?

What would the taxi charge for that short a trip between station and hotel?

Smaug

The hotel is an easy 5-minute walk from Centraal Station. There is no need for a cab.

agehall

It is probably a longer walk to get a cab than to just go straight to the hotel.

Dcislander

It's almost exactly a quarter mile walk from station to hotel door. Easy walk for most, but for seniors with luggage it may not be as simple. Some of the path is cobblestone and not super smooth for roller bags. Depends on the shape of the seniors I would think. For my parents (70's and pretty mobile) I think that it would not be a problem--I would just print out a map with the route on it for them to follow. If the seniors are frail or in wheelchairs, that changes the dynamic.

I do not think that a taxi would consider the fare since it is so close (but I could be wrong). If you do not think that your group can make it unassisted, I think that your best bet is to contact the hotel reservations manager and ask directly if there is a hotel car or representative that can meet them at Central and escort them over.